Retention of flowable composite resins in comparison to pit and fissure sealants: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Despite the worldwide decline in dental caries, pit and fissure caries remains a cause of concern, and application of pit and fissure sealants is an important preventive measure. Due to the high wear rate of conventional unfilled sealants, various other materials have been tested for fissure sealing. The present meta-analysis was conducted to compare the effectiveness of flowable composite resins as a fissure sealant to that of conventional pit and fissure sealants. A literature search was performed in MEDLINE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Google Scholar. Clinical trials comparing the efficacy of flowable composite resins as fissure sealants to that of conventional pit and fissure sealants on permanent teeth with a follow-up of 12 or 24 months were included in this meta-analysis. The retention rates of the 2 groups were evaluated with a random-effects model using Cochrane Reviews software (Cochrane RevMan, version 5.3). Seven studies were included in the final review. Flowable composite resins proved to be a significantly better fissure-sealing material after 1 year of follow-up (odds ratio = 0.47; 95% CI = 0.22-1.01; P = 0.05; degree of inconsistency [I(2)] = 59%). The retention rates of flowable composite resins at the end of 2 years were similar to those of conventional pit and fissure sealants (odds ratio = 0.71; 95% CI = 0.13-3.95; P = 0.70; I(2) = 85%). Flowable composite resins proved to be a superior alternative to conventional sealants after 1 year of follow-up; however, no such difference between the 2 groups was observed after 2 years of follow-up. Further longitudinal studies should be conducted to evaluate the long-term retention and efficacy of flowable composite resins in fissure sealing.